1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fishing line guide mechanism, particularly to a spinning reel fishing line guide mechanism, which is attached to the tips of rotor arms while being pivotable between a fishing-line guide position and a fishing-line release position in order to guide a fishing line onto a spool, and a spinning reel.
2. Background Art
Spinning reels include a fishing line guide mechanism on the tip of a rotor in order to guide a fishing line onto a spool. The rotor has a cylindrical portion, a first rotor arm, and a second rotor arm. The cylindrical portion is rotatably attached to a reel unit. The first and second rotor arms are integrally formed with the rear part of the cylindrical portion while being opposed to each other. The fishing line guide mechanism is attached to the tips of the two rotor arms while being pivotable between a fishing-line guide position and a fishing-line release position. A fishing line guide mechanism of this type includes a first support member, a second support member, and a bail. The first support member is pivotably mounted to the first rotor arm, whereas the second support member is pivotably mounted to the tip of the second rotor arm. The bail couples the first support member and the second support member. A line roller, a fixation shaft and a fixation shaft cover are attached to the tip of the first support member. The line roller serves to guide the fishing line, whereas the fixation shaft serves to support the line roller. The first support member is an exemplary support member. One end of the bail is fixed to the fixation shaft cover, whereas the other end of the bail is swaged to the second support member (see e.g., Japan Laid-open Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-H10-234277). A bail flip mechanism is disposed between the first support member and the first rotor arm. The bail flip mechanism is a mechanism configured to return the fishing line guide mechanism taking a fishing-line releasing position to a fishing-line winding position in conjunction with rotation of the rotor in a fishing-line winding direction.
In such fishing line guide mechanism, the first support member, which is pivotably attached to the first rotor arm, is made of aluminum alloy and has a plated layer formed on the outer surface of the support member by plating for preventing the outer peripheral part of the support member from being scratched. The support member has complex shaped portions formed on the inner surface thereof, including a coupling structure such as an engaging portion for coupling thereto the bail flip mechanism and a restriction structure such as a protrusion for restricting a pivot range of the support member.